MMSF Character/Folder building (WIP)

Being a Sequel of Mega Man Battle Netowrk (MMBN), it borrows many of its combat elements and simplifies lots of what it offered:

- The elemental cycle from Mega Man Battle Network is back, wood beats elec, elec beats water, aqua beats fire and fire beats wood.
- Mega Man's form change will depend on the version you selected. in MMSF 1, your form will be locked to the version, succeeding games allow cross-version form changes (Bar MMSF3's finalize noise forms)
- Same MMBN folder building limitation, no more than 3 copies of the same standard card, no more than 5 Mega class cards and up to 1 Giga class card allowed with up to 30 total cards in a folder, same as in MMBN. MMSF3 allows for up to 5 copies of the same standard card.




- Cards are no longer bound to codes. This change impacts the meta in a sense that you will focus less on building folders with consistent codes.
- Combat mechanics have changed, I won't delve deeper into this detail for now, as it will be version specific.
- No more memory requirements for the "regular chips", instead the game lets you select cards to assign as white cards.
- NaviCust is less puzzly... Or Maybe I should say gone and replaced with the BrotherBand system where you gain abilities based on who you connect with. Starting from the second game this becomes labeled the "Link Power" system and becomes a Knapsack problem, where you have a limited numerical capacity on how many programs/abilities you can install, each of which has a cost associated to it, something which I will talk about later.
- Battle Cut-in counters are back.. With a twist.. More on that later




Here I will be mentioning the major system changes that will impact your folder builds:


During the Cust Screen, since chip codes are gone. Cards are now presented in a 2x3 set of cards, cards on the same row can be selected together, additionally White/Favorite cards can be added together, the amount of which differs in each game.

Aside from the elemental cycle, properties and statuses are back:

• Bubble: Units are trapped in a bubble and interrupted for about 2 seconds unless attacked. Elec attacks now cause 2x if they hit a bubbled enemy.
  
• Freeze: Units hit with aqua cards when standing on ice panels will be frozen for about 2 seconds. Break type attacks do 2x damage to frozen enemies.
  
• Paralyze: Paralyzed units become immobilized for 2 seconds.
  
• Wind: Wind attacks eliminate barriers and auras.
  
• Blinded: Blinded units can't see anything, of course.
  
• Confused: Confusion causes the unit's movements to be reversed.
  
• Gravity: The unit can act but can't move from its panel for 2 seconds. In PVP, affected units can't lock on.

Note that when Paralyzed on a card select screen, Mega Man can still recover when selecting a card that changes his form.


The same stats from MMBN are back, Power, Speed and Charge. The base buster can be buffed using in-game equipable items dubbed "Mega Weapon" or brotherband/Link Power skills.

Counter hits now not only paralyze the enemy, they also provide a random non-support type bonus card with respect to the following Randomness values: 75% Standard Card, 18.75% Mega Card and 6.25% Giga Card.
In MMSF1, special forms lock you out of this, as counter hits will always guarantee a Big Bang card. In MMSF2, the chance is now 50% Link Force Big Bang or 50% bonus card (before applying the RNG mentioned earlier).
In MMSF3, The bonus cards are now "fixed" in a sense that the game will queue bonus cards at the start of each fight and draw them one by one as you chain counter hits. Abusing this is out of the question in this collection
since it does not support save states. The Rockmanexezone [www.therockmanexezone.com]page mentions something interesting about abusing the RNG here, as building folders with no attacking standard chips will always net you a Mega/Giga class card, whether this feature can be used to build efficient folders remains questionable.

In MMSF1 and MMSF2, depending on some rules, chaining attacks in quick succession may result in registering a combo. Upon finishing the battle, a certain NPC will contact you to register the combo and grant you a card that can be used to execute it with a screen dimming effect. Registering a combo can be done against an EX or SP boss and chaining has to be done in one turn. For MMSF1, a combo may be accepted only if its damage starts from 300 in total and has at least 3 cards. On the other hand, MMSF2 combos require an amount between 2 to 6 cards whilst the opponent is standing on the exactly the same panel. More on that here.[www.therockmanexezone.com]

Connecting yourself with Brothers gives you access to a roulette card that gives you a random card of their favorite cards that are assigned to their profiles. On top of that, they increase the Ability Waves capacity, allowing you to equip more programs.

Battle Cut-in counters are back, they now give the added bonus of allowing the user to cancel their move and return to their last known position in their respective column. The Rockmanzone [www.therockmanexezone.com] also mentions that they reset Mega Man's status if he's paralyzed or frozen.

This video explains it better than if I would do it myself:

Note
For every game in the collection, PvP mode has preset folders that you can use in case you want to skip building folders all together.

MMSF1 has little character building to offer. Depending on which version you chose to play, Mega Man will acquire one of the following forms:



The forms themselves offer the big advantage of being able to side select, increasing your combo potential during combat. Being hit with attacks that counter your element's weakness will revert Mega Man back to his original form, Pegasus' element seems to give an edge over the others as he can't be hit by the other forms' charge shots.

Concerning the BrotherBand abilities and stats, aside from those obtained during a normal playthrough, one may be able to connect to other players to form a brotherband. They contribute their own abilities to your assets depending on the version they are playing with + allow you to transform to their respective version forms. Up to 6 Brothers can be added, adding these abilities to your arsenal as a result:


Min. HP and Max. HP refers to the HP value increase that you get upon connecting with the player depending on their level. It does not increase dynamically and to get the new increase, you will have to delete them and re-add them, should their level get an upgrade.


Honestly, I would just go for Pegasus. Stats-wise I feel like the buster does not shine until the third game, it could be just me but I feel like the buster parts that you collect and equip to Omega-Xis are sufficient enough to pack a punch, other than that I think that MMSF is a deck building game where the buster may be used only in a pinch.

Finally, your choice of game version impacts the Giga cards that you get:
Although I can't specify which version seems superior over the other with respect to these cards, I can definitely tell you that the fire+50 card is not what I would go for. These attack buffing cards seem to work well with multi-hit attacks. The only Fire cards with multi hits are Fire Ring Magic Crystal 1, both of which are slow and not worth the buff. Either way, all 3 elenmental buffing cards can't show their potential until the third game. As of now, the best multi-hit attacks are elementless. Either way, Pegasus Magic GX seems to be the best Giga you can use for its damage and freezing attack that you can follow-up with more combos.

From your end though, depending on your level, you increase your brother's HP. Mega Man's level increases each time you fulfill one of these conditions (source[www.therockmanexezone.com])

My folders tend to consist of 30% support cards and 70% offensive cards, the latter of which either has cards with fast attacking animations, good reach and moderate damage. Note that in this game, you can choose up to 4 standard cards and 2 Mega/Giga cards as favorites. If you can manage to find a combination that synergizes with your chosen cards, you are golden!

I personally like to build para/bubble based folders for their good ability to lock the opponents in place and enable more combos. Freezing sadly can only be done using Pegasus' buster, freeze knuckle or Pegasus Magic G as the para and bubbling has more options to choose from, especially paraplus which can be pretty much equipped to anything, something which I will. Below is my personal tier-list which covers this topic, but feel free to build your folder as you please:



Consider taking a look at the following posts for some inspiration:

• https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/935719-mega-man-star-force-pegasus/46675627
  
• https://www.neoseeker.com/forums/33247/t974331-post-your-folders-best-combos/
  
• https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/935719-mega-man-star-force-leo/41557162

Finally, if you can get your hands on one of those buster weapons that add paralysis or cause your enemies to be bubbled then you'll have no enemy to fear. The FM Bracelet seems to offer good stats for the job, on the contrary Magic Breath is a good option as well, but since you will need charge shots for this, get the BN Blstr as it has +5 charge, which impacts your charging speed.

SSF2 blesses us with 15 forms, 12 of which may look the same but they mechanically function differently depending on which version* you chose.

There are 3 base forms in each version, MMSF2 allows you to combine your base form with other forms via "Double Tribe", going further as to transform a third time will give you access to the ultimate form. Upon transforming on top of your base transformation, you inherit the next form's features and abilities bar an ability that you can't gain is locked to your version, namely your Charge A button attack. Successfully countering an enemy with a card gives you a 50% chance to get LFBB.



*: You can change your initial form using wave command cards

Transforming a second time in combat will give you access to a form that combines your base form with the new one, overriding your element and Link Force Big Bang attack (LFBB) with one that mixes both elements, and giving you all of its abilities minus A button charge ability. Transforming a third time gives you access to the tribe king form which has no elemental weakness, changes your buster shot to a sword projectile that hits 3 times with the wood, fire and elec elements and an output of 25 + 5x ATK, finally it gives you all of the abilities except for your A charge attack. One thing to note here is that this form lasts only for 3 turns. Note: Each transformation reduces the number of cards you receive each turn by -1 until you revert back to your normal form, either via Tribe King's expiration or by getting hit with your elemental weakness.

Getting the ability to double tribe requires you to connect with brothers of other tribes. But if that's not your thing, let me introduce the indie/rogue transformations, which are more than a cool palette swap and require you to play alone with no brotherbands to rely on:

• Side Select
  
• Sword cards gain +50 attack power
  
• EM Barrier: Each turn, you automatically can negate an attack
  
• You can't be locked-on online
  
• Your buster shot is the same as in the other base transformation.
  
• Super armor if you use Saurian/Dinosaur
  
• Body Double if you use Ninja/Shinobi

With this transformation, you get penalized by not being able to use Mega/Giga cards, countering gives you no LFBB (You can use these however via Wave commands [www.therockmanexezone.com]). The only notable advantage is that you can't lose this form, as it has no weakness, unless you cut in during combat. (source[www.therockmanexezone.com])

As mentioned in the general notes, NaviCust is gone and replaced with the Ability Wave system. To put it simply, You find programs in-game, each of which has a cost, and you just fill them in based on how much you can handle. Your capacity (denoted as LP) increases the more brothers you are connected with. While I am not going to list every available program[www.therockmanexezone.com], I will note the ones I find viable for every situation (sorted by importance):

• UndrShrt
  
• SprArmr
  
• QuckGage (This affects everyone in battle)
  
• FstAura
  
• FstBarr (does not stack with FstAura)
  
• FlotShoe
  
• ChargeP
  
• ChrgWood
  
• ChrgIce
  
• ChrgSver
  
• ChrgPsn

Each legit save file can have a maximum of 1300 LPs. Feel free to attach a HumrBstr on top if you want to be more annoying during combat. I assume everyone runs transformations hence why I did not add SideSlct since it is OP and comes for free as a result of transforming. Your base HP can increase all the way to 1000 if you find all the HPMemories, I have seen people investing in HP increasing abilities to enable long fights.


Just get the FM Bracelet,, it is still the best option in terms of stats and its paralysis effect is the main motivation.


Here I will put my personal cards tier list. Since the transformations buff their respective elemental cards' attacks, I tend to build folders that are reinforced by my base form only. My preferred form is Zerker for its ability to paralyze and thus my folders tend to have lots of electric/para cards.



As always, I will leave here some folders made by other people:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/942813-mega-man-star-force-2-zerker-x-ninja/59940952
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/942813-mega-man-star-force-2-zerker-x-ninja/44907156
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/942813-mega-man-star-force-2-zerker-x-ninja/49224937

MMSF3 revamps many combat elements. I will try to sum them up here. There are a total of 23 forms present in this game, 2 of which are version dependent whilst 10 can be combined together to form 20. Your base transformation does define which folder and abilities you will have to aim for in this game ( Source[www.therockmanexezone.com]):
test




All of these are obtainable in both versions. The version only defines the chances of obtaining these. The first 5 have a great chance of being obtained in a Black Ace save, whereas the rest has the opposite. Should you get a brother who has a different noise form than yours, you will have the option to merge your forms, overwriting everything in the process except for your abilities, which will add up to your previous base abilities.

During combat, if you manage to raise your noise levels to at least 200%, you will gain the option to transform to Finalize, giving you access to an entirely new folder and a new form depending on which version you chose to play. For information concerning which folder you can access go here [www.therockmanexezone.com], essentially, Red Joker's folders tend to have attacks with great reach and damage while Black Ace's seem to be versatile.


This video sums up quiet well on how to obtain your desired noise:



During combat, the meta is to increase your noise gauge, the further you increase it the better. I noticed that swords tend to be present in various template folders due to their multi-hitting strikes and good damage, motivating the idea of going for a setup that boosts their attack values. Here I put my personal noise tier list:



+50 for the swords seems tempting, but the penalty of not being allowed to have brothers seems way too taxing considering the many abilities you can pack up if you have these, on top of that the buff does not justify the loss here. If I want to buff my swords I would go for Gemini or Wolf. If you happen to multi-noise these 2, you will essentially overthrow Rogue's form + you get quick gauge for free here.


Your transformations setup does impact which ability you would want to go for. I like how Taurus has a free Super Armor, which has the second highest cost out of every available option.
Panel altering abilities are sadly overshadowed by 2 things: Area Eater, which almost everyone in these old PVP videos seems to use and floatshoes, which ignore them.